Masteries

Offense:
9

Defense:
0

Utility:
21

Introduction

I'm writing this guide as much for my own benefit as anything else. I'm a firm believer that the best way to learn something inside and out is to try to teach it to someone else, so please bear with me while I get it all wrong and try to show you how to "do it right."

I feel like it's worth pointing out that I am relatively new to MOBAs. I never played DotA; I didn't even know what that stood for until I looked it up. I'm terribad at RTS games, and to me, if you are NOT terribad at RTS, you are a huge leg up on MOBAs. Things like turning the camera lock off are new to me, because when I play a game with this perspective and with these kinds of controls, it's usually to kill NPCs and take their stuff, a la Titan Quest or Torchlight. Those games nearly always have your character in the centre of the screen.

I run an MMO-oriented blog, and while looking for new MMOs to cover, I stumbled upon League of Legends, which somewhere in some ad copy said it offered some MMO-like features. I elected not to cover it, since I don't consider the game to be an MMO, but I did enjoy the game on its own merits. I continue to play even while I've put the blog on hiatus, and I recently purchased Lux. Why did I purchase Lux? Because I had been told by more than one person that she shouts "DEMACIA!!!" I'm not joking.

I have been and probably always will be a play-for-fun kind of gamer. Therefore I don't rack my brain in theorycrafting, and I am usually not terribly aware of things like artificial caps on various stats. If anything I suggest in this guide runs afoul of the math behind the game, please comment accordingly so I can adjust my thinking. If I lead any of you astray this way in the meantime, sorry. But, I did warn you.

Primary foci of this guide are to hit the Cooldown Reduction (CDR) cap, deal with mana-per-5-seconds (MP5) and mana base issues, and push Ability Power (AP) and Magic Resistance Penetration (MRP) as high as we can manage without sacrificing other areas. This is mostly because I love to hear any Champion shout "DEMACIA!!!" as often as possible, and if we hit the CDR cap at 40%, Lux's R, Finales Funkeln, will be available every 24 seconds. That's a lot of "DEMACIA!!!"

Runes

In reality, I have a mish-mash of runes, because I still haven't really bought many tier 3 runes while I keep saving up for Champions (gotta catch 'em all). Here, though, is what I would use if I was just overflowing with IP.

For each type, insert as many as you possibly can of the highest grade you own. Don't sweat it if you don't have everything at super maximum awesome. League of Legends is as much a skill game as a numbers game, and your Magic Penetration will mean zip if you can't land a shot anyway. By the time it matters, you should be able to fully deck out your Lux if she becomes your favourite.

These choices are based primarily upon the Rune Tips page that Searz put together, going for an "S-Rank" of each type in an area I like to improve with Lux in order to get the best possible value in each slot.

Greater Mark of Insight
Especially as the game wears on, building up your MRP will make a huge difference in how much of the big numbers you see with each skill are actually being deducted from your victi... your opponents' hit points. These are common on any AP-heavy Champion build for a reason.

Greater Seal of Clarity
Since we are focusing on CDR, we need to make sure we have enough mana on hand to spam Lux's spells. This is the best value as far as runes go for MP5.

Greater Glyph of ClarityGreater Glyph of Celerity
Instead of pushing CDR everywhere on runes, we want to get the best value we can, since CDR, while it is the goal, is not the only thing that matters. This is the best category for the maximum CDR benefit. I go with CDR-per-level Glyphs because I can get away with only using six of them to reach the cap (by adding 5.4% to the 35% I get from items), letting me squeeze a bit more top-tier MP5 out with three MP5-per-level Glyphs.

Greater Quintessence of Force
A boost in your base AP to start will help you harass better early, and give you a leg up on pushing down crowds in team fights as the game progresses. Having a larger AP pool will also increase the value of items like Rabadon's Deathcap, which increase your pool by a percentage of its total.

Masteries

I go with a 9/0/21 build, allowing me the best possible refresh times on my preferred Summoner spells as well as more utility with Clarity. I also get a huge MRP boost and a healthy chunk of AP.

The movement speed helps with quick repositioning for the most devastating Finales Funkeln possible, and the MP5 contributes to the power to fire it off every time it's ready. I also go for the greatest possible earned experience Mastery, adding 5%, which I interpret as roughly a 5% increase in leveling speed. I skip the CDR Masteries in Utility because of my rune and item arrangement, which allows me to get to the CDR cap without reserving any points for that Mastery. I take the Offence CDR Mastery to the max because it is required to open the MRP.

Items

I tend to start with a Meki Pendant, to help me stay in the lane longer being very aggressive with my early spells. If I am clever and remember, I also snap up a pair of Health Potions towards the same end. Before long, I have the gold I need to convert my Pendant into a Tear of the Goddess, which allows me to start working on its unique mana pool expansion very, very early.

Next up is mobility, which always starts with the trusty old Boots of Speed. If I'm in a game where I've been nailed early and hard by some CC that rolls right into me dying, I consider going with Mercury's Treads rather than my preferred Sorcerer's Shoes; however, I am usually able to hang back far enough to avoid getting caught by lane opponents or grabbed in a gank, so I usually head for the MRP. At this early stage, I find that my mana pool and MP5 are gimped enough that I don't benefit much from the CDR of Ionian Boots of Lucidity, so I pass on this recommended variant.

The next step is to upgrade that Tear of the Goddess to an Archangel's Staff, which helps push the MP5 up tremendously, in addition to giving us some not insignificant amounts of AP. After that, I go for a bit more MP5, but also a dash of GP10 to help get me to the rest of the gear more quickly. I do that with Kage's Lucky Pick, which builds into one of of my preferred CDR pieces.

At this point, I usually start being seen as a threat, and I tend to run into a bit of hate. People will try to burn an Ignite on me, or CC me in place for some burst damage. This is why somewhere around this point in my item progression, I take a detour into defence. I go for a Quicksilver Sash instead of a Banshee's Veil, for a few reasons; one, it's much cheaper to build, so not only do I get it a lot sooner, I also get to everything else a lot sooner. Two, most half-decent players can break a Banshee without giving up too much, so I find it to be not only less expensive, but in many cases, more valuable as well.

It's a free Improved Cleanse with a very low CD for what it offers, along with some decent Magic Resist, all for about half the price of a Banshee. If I'm not getting much attention, or if I'm in a vs. AI game, I do sometimes skip this item and continue on with my offence-oriented build. In that case, I will generally forego the Sash in favour of a Void Staff for more AP and still more MRP.

Somewhere around here, I also build up the rest of the piece I started with Kage's Lucky Pick -- the sorely underutilised Deathfire Grasp. This is a great clicky to lead with against any enemy Champion with a ton of hit points. You know, like that Cho'Gath that's been eating my team alive and now has thousands of HP. By taking advantage of the extremely low CD burst I can pop off with this item, I can roll into a spell combo that can really take these players by surprise. Given the relatively low frequency of use of this item, I've found it to be a great way to scare the hell out of the other team's Tank just before our team steamrolls them.

It also gets me a significant amount of the way to my goal of hitting the CDR cap, adding a 15% reduction. When I roll on to Morello's Evil Tome, with an additional 20% reduction, I'm pretty much done, and at 40% CDR. By that time, if I'm not level 16, I'm pretty darn close. This means Finales Funkeln is ready to fire every 24 seconds.

Unfortunately, the down side is that in order to push a high fire rate, I've had to sacrifice something in the way of raw damage. The last bit of the build helps to make up for that (along with the possible Void Staff substitution mentioned above). Rabadon's Deathcap, even patched to be mildly nerfed recently, is still huge. Not only does it add some flat AP, it then gives a percentage-based multiplier to your entire AP pool. I'm not entirely sure why the numbers here don't match the numbers I see in-game, but with the item build here and runes that are not anywhere near as good as what I recommend, my AP at the end is 534. If you follow this guide you should be closer to about 550.

Some guides I have seen suggest the use of stacking items like Mejai's Soulstealer. I don't do this, because I never know when I will end up dead, and items like that depend upon me being a much better player than I actually am. If you can pull this off and don't find the clicky effect on Deathfire Grasp to be worthwhile, this makes a fair substitute.

I've also seen guides recommending against building to the CDR cap. Granted, I am building it for a pretty frivolous reason, but it's been quite effective nonetheless. The reason I like to be at the cap hard (as opposed to soft, meaning needing temporary buffs or skills to reach the cap) is that I prefer to leave as little to chance as possible, just like with the stacking items. I PUG queue a lot, so I can't count on a team fight actually being a team fight, and not a team gank on me while the rest of my team runs away. I'd rather not give up a blue buff or drop gold on a consumable buff that may get eaten at any time.

Please don't take my item guide to be some kind of gospel, or read this to mean that I think those other builds are "wrong." I believe that how ever you are most effective is the way you should build and play. If someone else's guide or concept suits you better, by all means, please use it! I'd much rather you win with their guide than lose with mine. And of course, if this wasn't clear enough already, this is a guide, not a set of rules. Every game is different, so be flexible. This is more or less the path I take, but if you want to hit the CDR cap and need something else as the side benefits of your items, by all means, check them out!

Skill Sequence

There is a ton of room to maneouvre here, depending on what's going on in your game. Generally speaking, however, I try to max Lucent Singularity as soon as practicable. This is a great way to farm, and like Orianna's ball, it can be used somewhat defencively by putting it near your opponents without detonating it right away.

The edges of its effective radius are slightly farther than the game shows, so, just like with Morgana's Tormented Soil, you can plant it right between the front line and the back line of a creep wave, and nail every single one of them if you detonate it before they shift positions. As your AP and MRP get higher, you'll ultimately be able to one-shot a creep wave this way.

One variation on the level 1 skill is for 3v3. In the Twisted Treeline, there is this sort of tradition of having a minion-free, full-team battle royal in the bottom lane during the first 90 seconds. In this case, I much better serve the team in its attempt to get First Blood by putting my first point into Light Binding instead of Lucent Singularity. If you land the skill shot, you can either immobilise the target, or the target and one add, or immobilise the non-target members of their team to keep them out of the fight.

As for what to max next, it depends on your style. If you are the backstop of the lone Support Champion on your team, you may win some heartfelt gratitude from your teammates by pushing Prismatic Barrier next. When I am in a game that looks like it will be predominantly team fights without a lot of 1v1 skirmishes, I max out the shield, and consider Light Binding to be a utility CC, without any real regard for its damage.

Of course, no matter what, put a point into Finales Funkeln at every opportunity; levels 6, 11, and 16. Each rank greatly reduces the base CD of the skill, in addition to significantly boosting the base damage.

Summoner Spells

Of all the places in this guide that I expect to draw downvotes and cries of "Noob! Noob!" this is it. Flash is a gimme, everyone loves it. If you are very low level and do not have it yet, you can get Ghost instead, and put your Mastery point that I assigned to Flash into the improved Ghost as well.

But Clarity? Really? Yes. If you drop a Mastery point in for it, it restores allied Champion mana for the same amount that you get. This might seem trivial, and I would concede that in a PUG, you've got fair odds of running with at least one Champion who does not use mana. If they end up laning with you, this has no value at all. But I cannot tell you how many team fights I have singlehandedly turned around by virtue of being able to instantly refill my entire team's mana pool. This also helps smooth over those early parts of the game, letting me be especially aggressive in lane, pushing towers early while the other side ports home to refuel.

What would I take instead, if Clarity was off-limits for whatever reason? Say, an all-Ninja team of Akali, Kennen, and Shen, with a dash of Garen for good measure? I would probably go with either Teleport, moving my Time Spent Dead point over into the port Mastery, or Ignite, putting a point into that Mastery to help with my AP total, if I could spare one. I would have to drop the Utility capstone to get that one, actually, but it's definitely a useful way to commit to finishing off an enemy.

All that said, in general, I prefer to have it handy for early game smoothness, and mid-to-late game clutch power restoration in team fights. It also means I don't have to rely on picking up the Golem buff, or argue with a teammate over who "needs" it more, if someone else thinks they must have it.

Ranked Play

See above; I have zero interest or aspiration for Ranked play. If I ever end up in a Ranked queue, it will be by accident. If you try this approach in Ranked, I'd love to hear about what results you got, though, and what changes you made, if any.

Pros / Cons

+ Clear minion waves with your ult, let the other team think you can't use it again for 40 seconds, and then nail them 24 seconds later

+ Clutch power restoration when your team fight does not go as planned

+ Miss with a spell? No problem, you can fire again almost immediately

+ Item-based HP-percentage-based burst can surprise many Summoners

- Exceptionally squishy if you get caught out of position

- Hit with a spell? Good job, better do it a few more times, they don't hit that hard

Unique Skills

Illumination is Lux's passive, and I have mixed feelings about it. One of the recommended items is Lich Bane, which does synergise well with the passive. It's also a not insignificant help early on in last-hitting, tagging your opponents for more than they are expecting, and so on.

However, by the mid-game on, in my experience, Lux in range for auto-attacks is Lux disabled for about a minute while you shop from the middle of the map. This means that not only is her passive neutered, but so is anything you can get out of Lich Bane before you die, cutting your DPS down to zero. Ducking in for a quick poke with Deathfire Grasp when the other team is still sorting out who is where is one thing; making Illumination central to your DPS rotation is too much high-risk play for my taste.

In general, stylistically, I prefer faster, weaker hits with much higher frequency to heavier, slower hits that do a lot more damage. If you play this way in other games, too, taking the Rogue over the Warrior, or the Scrapper over the Tanker, etc. then this approach may be just what you're looking for.

I will leave the math to the experts to determine the theoretical maximums of either approach, and which is better or worse. My position is that this is more fun for me personally, and in general, because it requires me to hit more often with skill shots and boomers, it makes me a better player mechanically by virtue of how often I need to get things right in order to get anywhere with this build.

League of Legends is a team based, real time strategy game set in a mythical world of swords & magic where epic battles decide the fate of mystical nations. Game players take on the role of a Summoner who conjures and controls champions to fight for them at the Institute of War. During game play champions gain experience and items to enhance their skills and abilities. How players develop and play their champions can be the difference between a crushing defeat or a glorious victory!